Toddler dies after Mother’s Day crash while family was returning home from dance recital
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. (WAFF/Gray News) - A toddler of a Tennessee man killed in a fiery Mother’s Day crash has died from their injuries.
Just two months shy of turning 2 years old, Sawyer Gene Smith died from injuries sustained in a multi-vehicle collision in Chattanooga on Mother’s Day.
The child’s father, Lane Smith, died from his injuries shortly after the crash. The boy’s mother, Baliegh Smith, and their young daughter, Brynlee, also suffered critical injuries.
On Mother’s Day, the family was traveling back to Fayetteville from Brynlee’s dance recital in Chattanooga.
According to the family’s GoFundMe, Brynlee is receiving treatment in Nashville and Baleigh is hospitalized in Chattanooga.
Authorities said a tractor-trailer crashed into six enger vehicles that day, including the Smith’s family vehicle on Interstate 75.
In total, three people were killed and six people were injured.
Law enforcement officials in Tennessee say 65-year-old Joseph Antoineier was arrested on numerous felony warrants.
Copyright 2025 WAFF via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
